U-M physics and engineering researcher named Clarivate Citation Laureate
22 researchers honored for Nobel-class discoveries.
University of Michigan engineering professor Stephen Forrest has been named a 2026 Clarivate Citation Laureate, one of a distinguished group of 22 researchers whose work is considered to be Nobel class.
The individuals were selected by experts at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate for their pioneering contributions to shape science and society. Since the program’s inception in 2002, 89 Citation Laureates have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes, often years after their initial recognition.
The Citation Laureates were announced Thursday by Clarivate, a global information and analytics company, which is dually headquartered in London and Philadelphia.
Forrest was recognized “for advanced research on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDS) with ultrahigh efficiency.”
Formerly the vice president for research at U-M, Forrest, the Peter A. Franken Distinguished University Professor, played a crucial role in developing fiber optic communications at Bell Labs. He created the first stable light detector for long-haul communications—a design still used today. As a university researcher, his work in organic electronics has spanned fundamental physics and photonics as well as applications in lighting, displays and solar cells.
“It’s gratifying to see that work my colleagues and students did with little expectation of its importance turned out to make such a difference in people’s lives,” Forrest said. “That is what makes science and engineering so exciting and inspiring.”
Many of his findings have been commercialized through Universal Display Corporation, a company he co-founded in 1994. For example, his work has underpinned Samsung’s OLED displays since the company first introduced OLED screens on its flagship Galaxy phones in 2009.
His work in photovoltaics introduced transparency, opening the possibility of electricity-harvesting windows, and addressed problems related to the efficiencies and lifetimes of these devices. His recent work in thermal photovoltaics aims to help solve the intermittency problem with renewable energy, converting energy stored as heat into electricity. He co-founded Heat2Power to bring the technology to market.
The 2026 Laureates are affiliated with leading academic institutions in seven countries/regions, reflecting the global nature of Nobel-class research. Sixteen are based in the U.S. and one each in Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mainland China and Switzerland.
Bar Veinstein, president of academia and government at Clarivate, said: “For more than two decades, Citation Laureates have been among the world’s most closely watched data-led indicators of exceptional research influence.
“Many of the advances we honor this year, from GLP-1 medicines to precision gene editing and optical medical imaging, began as scientific questions explored decades ago. Today, they are improving lives, informing policy and helping shape the future.”
Forrest earned a bachelor’s in physics from the University of California, followed by a master’s and doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan. He was first hired as a professor at the University of Southern California in 1985. In 1992, he moved to Princeton as the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and then chaired the department from 1997 to 2001. He returned to Michigan in 2006 as the university’s vice president for research until 2014.
Previous Citation Laureates at U-M include Mark Newman, the Anatol Rapoport Distinguished University Professor of Complex Systems and Physics, in 2021 and Sharon Glotzer, the Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering, in 2023.
Forrest is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering, physics, and materials science and engineering